Conversations In Time

Since its inception, Tate Modern was set to move beyond the canon of western art history into the relatively uncharted waters of the global contemporary. This programme was set to celebrate Tate Modern's 20th anniversary, but was stalled by the lockdown, during which time the role of museums and galleries in a pandemic world have been in the spotlight and Tate has been entreated to decolonise and to deal with its patriarchal past. For Director Frances Morris, there is an urgency to ensure Tate Modern is fit for the future. She talks to artists Lubaina Himid, Sonia Boyce and Suzanne Dhaliwal, psychoanalyst Adam Phillips, critics and curators including Clara Kim and Hammad Nasar and lawyer and activist, Farhana Yamin to understand how Tate can not only explode the canon, but redesign the institution in which art is shown. A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 3

Dyslexia: Language and childhood by

Stella Sabin hears from dyslexic people across the world who reveal the challenges of growing up and working with dyslexia, and from experts at the cutting edge of dyslexia research. Reading and writing are fundamental tools in most societies, necessary for even the most basic of tasks. For the dyslexic this can cause an agonising disjuncture from an early age. Many dyslexic people will recall the difficulties of decoding words, the horror of the spelling test, the forgetfulness, and the shame of struggling with things that other people find so simple. Stella Sabin who has dyslexia herself, looks at the impact of the condition in adult life, and asks what difference does it make to know the name of what you are experiencing? Dyslexic people are disproportionally represented in low paying jobs and in the US and the UK 50% of the prison population are dyslexic. She visits the intelligence and security organisation GCHQ who are positively recruiting dyslexic thinkers, who are able to find unusual and imaginative solutions to complex problems…like cracking codes. Produced for the BBC World Service

'These are the topping tooters of the town, who play "Lilliburlero" to my Lord Mayor's horse through the city.' In an exhilarating programme, William Lyons (musician and specialist in performance and Renaissance music) celebrates the music of the Waits - a professional band of musicians who played for civic and ceremonial occasions in major towns across the country until 1835. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Tango dancer Fabian Salas explores the nostalgia and drama in the music of Carlos Gardel. He is the most famous figure in Tango and yet, the story and music of Argentina's national hero is barely known outside Latin America. A hundred years ago, Gardel recorded Mi Noche Triste (My Sad Night), and for listeners who are Argentinian or Uruguayan, the song can stop time. Produced for The BBC World Service

Tango dancer Fabian Salas explores the nostalgia and drama in the music of Carlos Gardel. He is the most famous figure in Tango and yet, the story and music of Argentina's national hero is barely known outside Latin America. A hundred years ago, Gardel recorded Mi Noche Triste (My Sad Night), and for listeners who are Argentinian or Uruguayan, the song can stop time. Produced for The BBC World Service

Albrecht Dürer - the artist who depicted the stout Rhinoceros (1515) or the Young Hare (1502) or the Self Portrait in the image of Christ (1500) - was the first truly international artist. No artist before him had been a famous name around Europe in his own lifetime. What brought him that fame was the print: reproducible art sprung from brand new technology. Produced for BBC Radio 3

Ruth and Lia were smuggled to Britain as Kindertransport refugees in the 1930s. Louai and Murad fled Syria three years ago. Nikki Tapper hears their stories in Birmingham. Produced by George Luke A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4

Journalist Hugh Muir travels with Sir Simon Woolley, head of Operation Black Vote, to Buckingham Palace, where he is to receive his knighthood from HM The Queen. It’s a journey that lays bare the dilemma, the joy, the soul-searching and the agony of being honoured for services to the British Empire, for anyone whose family history is one of oppression, slavery or violence as a consequence of the Empire. When Sir Simon heard he had been selected for a knighthood, he felt elation - then anxiety. The offer needed thought. It said much about his lifetime’s work as a political and anti-racist activist, but accepting it could ultimately say much about him and his standing within the community – and not in a good way. Could he take the honour and risk tainting himself with the association between the British honours system and the British Empire? If he took the honour, would the good he might do with it be outweighed by the disapproval it might engender? Sir Simon did some research. He concluded his knighthood was distanced from association with Empire as the title dates back to medieval times. With that comfort, he accepted and was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List in June. But why should he, or any minority who might qualify for an honour, be forced to agonise in that way? Why should they be placed in the invidious position of having to weigh up the pros and cons of Britain’s most official form of recognition for fear others will think less of them and they might even think less of themselves? The programme includes the views of Benjamin Zephaniah, journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, TV producer Samir Shah, Peaches Golding Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Novara Media senior editor Ash Sarkar, former MP Tony Wright, and broadcaster Dotun Adebayo. Produced by Shelley Williams A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4

In the first of a two part series, journalist Hugh Muir examines Carib-British identity through the descendants of Windrush. Seventy years ago, 492 men and women disembarked at Tilbury dock from the Empire Windrush. We have seen the photos and the newsreels. But what happened next? What do we know about the families they built here, the children and grandchildren? Did the Caribbean culture they brought with them endure, or are their children and grandchildren in all ways British? Hugh Muir explores the lives and identities of British Caribbeans in the UK. There are almost 1 million people in the UK who identify as having Caribbean or mixed Caribbean heritage. Through the stories and memories of Hugh's family and others, he tries to understand how a British Caribbean presence and identity was formed over three generations. This first episode is set between two homes - that of Hugh's dad, William Edward in rural Aberdeen, south west Jamaica, and the traditional Caribbean front room of the 1960s and 70s. It was in this symbolic space that many West-Indian parents, including Hugh's now ageing and frail father, paraded the beliefs and values they sought to pass down to subsequent generations - religious values, work ethic and aspiration. It was where children absorbed their parents' culture via the radiogram, blues parties, prayer gatherings and stories of "back home". But passing the torch from conservative parents with a sense of Empire and notions of the Motherland to children forced to navigate Britain as it was, while forming their own identities, was not an easy process. There was conflict inside and outside the home and a struggle with the authorities, which continues to this day with the Windrush immigration scandal. And yet there emerged from that process an explosion of vital and distinct British Caribbean culture - lovers rock, the soundsystem, a look, and a vocabulary that helped the Windrush children stamp their imprint on British society and pave the way for the next generation. A Cast Iron Radio production for BBC Radio 4.

To mark the life of the irrepressible Phyllis Diller, the first female stand up comedian, who died on August 20th this year (2012), BBC Radio 2 returns to a recent documentary, recorded with Diller in her glamorous Brentwood Home in LA, when she was still going strong aged 94. Produced for BBC Radio 2

Pioneering artist Laurie Anderson traces the roots of performance art - the most daring and popular of contemporary art forms, which blurs the boundaries of art, theatre and dance. More and more artists are drawing on the live quality of performance in their work: the artist Marina Abramovic was present for three months in New York's Museum of Modern Art for visitors to lock eyes with, silent and motionless; this year's prestigious Venice Biennale Golden Lion prize was given to the performance artist Tino Sehgal; and the newest addition to the Tate are the Tate Tanks, dedicated to Performance art. But what is this transient medium and where has it come from? Laurie Anderson, famous for bringing her song O Superman to the British pop charts in the 1980s, focuses on this innovative and elusive art form, drawing out the qualities of ritual and gathering, pain and endurance. She turns to the earliest recordings of the Futurist artist, Marinetti's Zang Tumb Tumb, the actions of German artist Joseph Beuys; the influence of John Cage in contrast to the risk of Yoko Ono, the sexual politics of Vito Acconci, the confrontation of the Viennese Actionists or British artist Stuart Brisley's offal bath and the explosive shock of Chris Burden's Shoot.

In 1963 Valentina Tereshkova, a simple factory worker, was sent on a solo mission to space. She became a hero in her country, a legend around the world and an icon of gender equality. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Recorded with dancers in Pina Bausch's Tanztheater company in Wuppertal, former lead dancer for the Royal Ballet, Deborah Bull, pays tribute to this extraordinary artist. Produced for BBC Radio 4

In an ongoing collaboration with BBC Radio 3, Wellcome Collection's Reading Room is the setting for a series of 'The Essay' devoted to the bodily organs. 'Body of Essays' invites five writers to ruminate on a different organ of the body. This strange proposition has a mysterious allure: the organs are hidden, buried from view, and yet are at the very core of our physical functioning as well as our mental and emotional world. Suctioned together in dark flesh, the organs can be all the more puzzling and intriguing. New York Times best selling author Philip Kerr is the creator of Bernie Gunther, an unflinching private eye. Philip immerses himself in the real world to inform what he puts on the page whether fiction or fact - in this essay we accompany him into a brain surgery operating room.

Speaking In Tongues (produced with Just Radio) by

In an ongoing collaboration with BBC Radio 3, the Wellcome Collection Reading Room is the setting for a series of 'The Essay' devoted to the bodily organs. 'Body of Essays' invites five writers to ruminate on a different organ of the body. This strange proposition has a mysterious allure: the organs are hidden, buried from view, and yet are at the very core of our physical functioning as well as our mental and emotional world. Suctioned together in dark flesh, the organs can be all the more puzzling and intriguing. Thomas Lynch is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently The Sin-Eater: A Breviary. His hyphenated life as both poet and undertaker has led him to being the subject of two award-winning documentaries - PBS's "The Undertaking" and the BBC's "Learning Gravity".

As part of a series of reflections about organs of the human body, novelist and journalist Ned Beauman confronts the idea that the appendix is redundant.

As part of a series of reflections about organs of the human body, poet Daljit Nagra describes how the lungs are an exchange system, similar to poetry.

As part of a series of reflections about organs of the human body, playwright Mark Ravenhill asks whether his identity has changed since his gall bladder was removed.

Hong Kong writer Dorothy Tse considers SARS. Produced for BBC Radio 3

As part of a series of reflections about organs of the human body, writer Christina Patterson reflects on the skin and her own experience of living with acne.

Author Frances Wilson discovers the hidden world of TB in London. Produced for BBC Radio 3

Dava Sobel journeys around New York, seeing the city in the light of its polio epidemic in 1916. Part of the Contagious Cities series. Produced for BBC Radio 3

In an ongoing collaboration with BBC Radio 3, the Wellcome Collection's Reading Room is the setting for a series of Radio 3's 'The Essay', in this case devoted to the bodily organs. 'Body of Essays' invites five writers to ruminate on a different organ of the body. This strange proposition has a mysterious allure: the organs are hidden, buried from view, and yet are at the very core of our physical functioning as well as our emotional world. Suctioned together in dark flesh, the organs can be all the more puzzling and intriguing. Annie Freud won the the Dimplex Prize for New Writing for her first poetry collection The Best Man That Ever Was and her most recent collection, The Remains, showcases her skill as both a poet and a visual artist. Annie brings a powerful, pungent, perfumed physicality to everything she sets out to write about; this evening's serving of kidneys being no exception.

William Carlos Williams is known as a revolutionary figure in poetry but, in comparison to his friend Ezra Pound and American writers including TS Eliot and Gertrude Stein, who sought a more exciting environment for creativity in Europe, Williams lived a strikingly conventional life. Produced for BBC Radio 4

This programme explores the various forces at work that would ultimately lead to the storm of Damien Hirst and co. We'll hear from Jon Thompson and Michael Craig Martin, who taught many of the artists at Goldsmiths, Hirst himself on his own beginnings as an artist, his recognition that London's art world would have to change to accommodate him and his friends, his views on his work and his idea of the role of the artist today. Produced for BBC Radio 4

By James Maw and Tim Sullivan. Rob Brydon is ventriloquist Peter Brough and his doll Archie Andrews in a new play that tells the true story behind one of the most successful radio shows of all time. With Fenella Woolgar as Peggy Brough. Produced for BBC Radio 4

"Without light there is no space". Robert Wilson With glowing lights dispelling the dark of the season, Fiona Shaw explores theatrical lighting. Produced for BBC Radio 3

English composer Jocelyn Took leads a poignant and engaging piece in which she explores what happens when we die. With especially composed music and compelling recordings of local shop keepers and friends, an Irish mystic and, not least a conversation she had with her mother, before she died last year, this programme will captivate believer and non believers to ponder. Originally aired: Between the Ears, BBC Radio 3

Experimental vocalist and movement artist Elaine Mitchener remembers the life and music of the brilliant New York composer-performer, Julius Eastman, whose work, she feels, has been wrongly overlooked. Produced for BBC Radio 4

The deliberate destruction of cultural heritage in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali and Syria has been condemned as a war crime by UNESCO - the 'intellectual' agency of the United Nations. But aside from issuing statements, what can this organisation achieve? Produced for BBC Radio 4

Set in the near future. After months of continuous rain all coastal areas of the UK are flooded. Bella and Jude are marooned on their farm, and their supplies are getting low. Simon Armitage and film-maker Richard Heslop were inspired to collaborate as a tribute to the film maker Derek Jarman, who died of AIDS in 1994. Produced for BBC Radio 4

We may fear going blind, deaf or dumb, but few of us worry about losing our olfactory senses. And yet more than 200,000 people in the UK are anosmic - they cannot smell. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Writer and poet Deborah Levy considers the true story of Princess Alexandra Amelie of Bavaria, 1826-1875 who at the age of 23 was observed awkwardly walking sideways down the corridors of her family palace. When questioned by her worried royal parents, she announced that she had swallowed a grand glass piano. This is a magical tale on the one hand and a partial history and analysis of mental delusions on the other. Produced for BBC Radio 3

Kirsti Melville hears from indigenous people about the importance of the ancient rock carvings and songlines in Murujuga or the Dampier Archipelago in Australia. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Brancusi's sculptural series in Targu Jiu, South West Romania, is a powerful memorial to the First World War, culminating with the Endless Column - he called it "a column for infinity". It is one of the great art works of the twentieth century: its simplicity, directness, and modularity helped to define the fundamental principles of modern abstract sculpture. Here, the writer Patrick McGuinness travels to the site to piece together the story of Brancusi's important work and its significance in the country today. Produced for BBC Radio 3

Acclaimed singer and Ella Fitzgerald devotee, Mara Carlyle, examines the life and vocal magnificence of the most beloved of jazz singers - marking the centenary of her birth. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Yves Klein is best remembered for his use of a single colour, Yves Klein International Blue, but his theories, extravagant performances, and his radical conceptions have largely gone unacknowledged. Emerging as an artist after three decades of war and destruction, Klein's work and ideas are characterised by a jubilant 'breaking-free' from the clench of the early 20th century-- by optimism, exploration and a desire to experience life beyond the physical world - the "immaterial' as he called it'. Produced for BBC Radio 3

Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, meets French artist Sophie Calle in her studio in south west Paris. The studio is a cabinet of curiosities, with an incredible array of intriguing objects including stuffed animals, one of which, the head and shoulders of a giraffe, represents the artist's mother - while a tiger is her father and the zebra, her cat Souris. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Polish artist Miroslaw Balka gives Frances Morris, Director of Tate Modern, an epic tour of the small, cramped spaces that are his studio, store and home in Otwock, near Warsaw. Produced for BBC Radio 4

A celebration of the amazing work of the little known astronomer (the world’s first astrophysicist) George Ellery Hale. He covered the peak of Mount Wilson with a constellation of instruments for observing the sky. His first objective - to study one particular star, our Sun. Hale’s monumental discovery in 1908 – that the Sun generated powerful magnetic fields - has been a source of inspiration for the world’s astronomers. Produced for The BBC World Service

Xavier Bray is a curator on a nail-biting journey to put together the greatest exhibition of portraits by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya, which opens at the National Gallery later this year (2015). Produced for BBC Radio 3

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has become an icon of British culture - the bizarre story and flamboyant illustrations have inspired all kinds of imagery, fashion, architecture, theatre, decoration and events. But its sinister undercurrents and dreamscape have also impressed artists and musicians. On the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll's book, lead singer and song writer of alternative rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees, Siouxsie Sioux, explores its strange allure. Produced for BBC Radio 4

When it was founded in the 18th century from the collections of Sir Hans Sloane, the British Museum aspired to being not just a national museum, but a world collection, accessible to a global audience. Produced for BBC Radio 4

We hear from leading artists working with the moving image - Christian Marclay whose celebrated 24 hour film Clock, is a play on time. Tacita Dean, committed to the traditional medium of film, describes her roots in pictorial image making and her love of celluloid. Gillian Wearing discusses her ambivalence to narrative and acting in her new cinema film Self Made. We capture the spirit of artist filmmaking at a screening of films on the platform of Hackney Downs station, where the context of the screen is important to the films shown. Produced for BBC Radio 4

AL Kennedy goes in search of epiphanies - those powerful revelations, the Aha! Instant in cognitive science, the Eureka moment among theorists and inventors. Epiphanies are not found, they come to us. Produced for BBC Radio 4

Author AL Kennedy tells the story of Alcoholics Anonymous and its methods. Produced for BBC Radio 4

There is something uniquely intimate and comforting about holding someone's hand. Perhaps because it's something that begins in childhood - our small hand enveloped in that of other, stronger, larger hands. We associate it with comfort, concern, care. And then, for a while, we abandon it - not holding your parents' hands is a sign that you have grown up - only to have the joy of rediscovering new shades of meaning in the gesture. Produced for BBC Radio 4

AL Kennedy talks to migraineurs and neurologists to explore the history and experience of a serious, though often misunderstood, condition which affects a billion people worldwide. Produced for BBC Radio 4

On the 50th anniversary this month of Britain's first Race Relations Act, Ritula Shah considers the role of legislation in ending racial discrimination. She is joined by Lord Lester of Herne Hill who helped draw up the original legislation in 1965. Produced for BBC Radio 4